Jalapeno & Blood Orange Whiskey Cocktail

I don’t have a name for this drink. I like names. I love this cocktail. So you can see what type of conundrum this has created in my life. I’ve even gone against suit and made this three times since it’s invention two weeks ago.

If you have a creative, fun name for this cocktail, let me have it. I’ll give you full credit and I will finally be able to refer to this properly when I make it for guest.

Update: This drink now has a name: Hot Blooded

I’ve also learned a few things about drink making with peppers, something I am completely and whole heartedly in love with. Spicy drinks have even lured me away from my one try love of the drink world: Craft Beer. While beer will still hold the number one rank in my drinking life, spicy cocktails have snuck into a close second spot. But there are rules when concocting libations from such unpredictable ingredients. Here are some rules to keep in mind:

1. Most of the heat from pepper are in the seeds. The more seeds you leave in, the hotter it will become. Exponentially.

2. When peppers sit in alcohol it only takes seconds for the heat level to go from hot to way too hot. It happens faster than you would expect.

3. No two peppers are the same and there is no way to predict how hot the ones you have chosen will be.

4. Alcohol intensifies heat. I learned this when writing an article about How To Pair Food & Wine, high alcohol beverages increase the heat level in food. The same rule applies to making cocktails with peppers.

6. Use gloves. For the LOVE. You only have to forget once, and then try to take your contacts out a few hours later to NEVER do that again. If you do forget, the best way to remove the peppers evilness from your fingers is to rub copious amounts of olive oil into your hands for about 5 minutes, and then wash the olive oil off with very warm water and dish soap.

Hot Blooded:

Jalapeno, Blood Orange & Whiskey

(Named by Seth)

1 cup fresh squeezed blood orange juice

2 tbs Agave

1/2 cup whiskey

1 medium sized jalapeno, chopped, stem removed (about 2 tbs)

In a cocktail shaker, add the blood orange juice, agave and whiskey, stir until combined. Add the jalapenos, replace the shaker cap and shake three times, immediately pour through a strainer into highball glasses filled with ice, straining out the jalapenos. Discard the jalapenos.

*I made this cocktail three times. The first time I made it with hand squeezed blood oranges, by far the best choice. Knowing that blood orange season is on it’s last legs, I wanted an alternative. I made it with regular orange juice and it just wasn’t as good. I also made it with Tropicana Trop50 Red Orange, while not as good as hand squeezed blood oranges,it was much better than regular orange juice, a fine substitute. And you can buy it in most grocery stores.

Update: I think we have a name. I had so much suggestions sent to me via email, Facebook, twitter and comments, but the one I can’t get out of my head is: Hot Blooded. Thanks in no small part to Foreigner. I also LOVED the idea of a TrueBlood name, since I am shamelessly addicted to that show, Bon Temp Sunrise?? Maybe not. Thank you to Seth for the new name! I can now get some rest.

35 Responses to Jalapeno & Blood Orange Whiskey Cocktail

This sounds amazing! I’ve been wanting to experiment with using spicy peppers in homemade sodas, and this is fantastic inspiration.

Oh, also: I’ve thought that some of the darkest and yummiest blood oranges I’ve come across have had what tastes like a hint of berry tartness to them. This post made me curious about that, so I did a little research and apparently I’m not crazy! The Moro variety of blood orange is said to have a slight raspberry flavor to it. So you might be able to achieve a similar flavor with freshly-juiced oranges and muddled raspberries.

I could go for one of these right now!! I love your tips on the peppers and 100% gloves. I wear contacts and have burned the living daylights out of my eyes unknowingly when trying to take them out at night. I’m even tempted to wear gloves in the grocery store when touching them!

Hello I love everything about this cocktail and am so glad to see it got a name, upon first reading it I couldn’t think of a good one. But Hot Blooded is perfect, I’m jealous I didn’t think of it.
But I have a question what whiskey do you use? and are there some you wouldn’t recommend? I am making it as a theme cocktail for my boyfriend’s birthday, he Loves spicy cocktails! We are doing a BBQ for his party in lovely weather (hopefully). Also what do you think of just making it one drink at a time and pouring into a pitcher to then later pour onto ice?
Thank YOU for sharing!
Cheers!

I just stumbled across this, and it made me think of something you may like:

Every year my friend and I have a True Blood premiere party. Last year we invented sex. It’s one part True Blood Blood Orange soda (you can usually find it at comic shops) and one part Reposado Tequila. We called it the Tequila Sunset!

It’ll get you snockered, perfect for playing “drinks with Lafayette” (we’re a little obsessed).
You can dial down the sweetness with some lime juice in place of the soda, if you so please (after the first one, I highly recommend it).

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

[…] Besides sounding like the most badass fruit, blood oranges are freakin’ delicious! Here they get paired up with a bit of heat (an underappreciated drink addition) to give your concoction a ton of flavor. (Recipe) […]

[…] 3. A Badass Whiskey Cocktail: It’s still red from blood oranges, so it’s perfect for V-Day. I like to think of blood oranges as a badass, sexy fruit. This drink also has jalapeno in it, which is also badass. I happen to like spicy drinks, but that’s not for everyone, nor was this post so…whatever. Recipe here. […]